


A Little Nudge

by owltype



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Shippy Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owltype/pseuds/owltype
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gandalf likes to joke that he had been "barely involved" with the quest for the Lonely Mountain, and that he had only given Bilbo "a little nudge out the door." But really, Thorin had been the catalyst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Nudge

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little thing I wrote, mostly to amuse myself. This is my first fic in this fandom and probably not my last, since I've already got plans for another. Please leave kudos/comments--feedback is food for the Muse.
> 
> Also, the tenses in this fic might be all over the place and for that, I am sorry but I'm also...not?

Sitting astride his pony, Bilbo wonders _why_.

They had gone and he had awoken, alone, and he had been happy.

And then he had been sad.

And before he knew it, he had packed his bag, had opened his door, and had run, fast, following the trail the ponies’ hooves carved into the Shire’s soft grass.

And then he had stood in front of Balin, proudly waving his signed contract, and Balin had given him a wry smile, had looked over the contract, and had announced all was in order.

And then Thorin, mildly amused, mostly annoyed, had instructed the others to give him a pony, and despite his protestations, he had been hauled up on one, like a child, like a sack of potatoes.

And now, his backside sore from being in the saddle, his hands itchy from Myrtle’s coarse bridle, and a perpetual tickle in his nose because of the horse hair—he really should have brought his handkerchief. What respectable Hobbit in their right mind runs out of their house without one?

But Bilbo hadn’t been in his right mind. He had fallen asleep to the deep rumble of Dwarrow song, and he had awoken with it still echoing in his mind. He had seen and heard and felt things he had never experienced before, and standing in his deserted house, with the smell of weed still clinging to his upholstery, with the mud from the Dwarrows’ boots still tramped into his carpet, and the contract sitting innocuous on his desk, he had suddenly felt he’d made a terrible mistake.

He had been contracted for the adventure of a lifetime, and he had given it up, and for what? His mother’s _dishes_?

Gandalf had been right: he had been sitting quietly for too long.

And so, he had run.

\-----

Bilbo spends a lot of time during their journey wondering why.

So do the others, apparently.

And he gets it, he really does: he is a Hobbit and they are Dwarrows and clearly, there are some physiological and psychological differences between the two races.

But it still stings. Hadn’t he proven himself already by saving them from the Trolls?

What hurts the most is Thorin’s scornful words. _He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again; he's long gone!_

 _That isn’t true_ , Bilbo wants to say. Sure, he _has_ thought about those things. Quite a bit, in fact; but he’s also thought a lot about the Dwarrows and their quest and what comes afterward, win or lose. Because, though difficult they may be, and smelly, too, he has come to think fondly of his companions.

So he says to Thorin, when asked why he returned to them. He meets those bluer-than-sapphire eyes and promises to help them reclaim their home, if he can.

\-----

As he’s mid-jump, hurtling forward, Bilbo asks himself, _why_. He’s no good to the Company dead. But he could not just stand by and watch Thorin be killed. And so, he runs, brandishing his sword, and he collides with the Orc who had been about to behead the king, and he kills him.

But as Bilbo soars high, safe on an Eagle’s back, he stares at the lifeless form of Thorin and wonders if it had been too little, too late.

\-----

As Thorin embraces him atop the Carrock, Bilbo suddenly knows why.

Why he had run out his door.

Why Thorin’s doubt in him had stung the most.

Why he had risked his life for Thorin’s.

Why he would continue to do so, against everybody’s better judgement, including his own.

It is all because of Thorin, _for_ Thorin.


End file.
